Dry Fraternity Living

[ZZ-kai-]

My fraternity is in the midst of fundraising for a new chapter house. We are only about 10 years old, a small alumni base and a somewhat anti-greek University. We are currently housed in a 6 man house, of which we have been in for 6 years. We have a 60 man chapter, and to say the least, the house has taken its beating.

If/when we get the money to purchase or build a new house, we are considering everything from opting to have it be substance free living (just for the sake of the house) to just a new house with no policies.

Please give me your opinions on this...

*Is your chapter substance free, and if so, how is it working out?
*Do you think your house is in better shape because of this?
*Is the living environment better? (sleeping, eating, studying, socializing?)

*If it is not totally substance free, do you think that a 'no events with alcohol held in the house', or 'no alcohol in common areas' will stand up?

If your chapter has these rules or similar rules, and your House Corp. has a link to a housing-lease online, please PM me the URL (we are always looking for something to model from).

I sit on the House Corp. Board for my Chapter, and we want to tackle these issues before we are in the building stages.

Thanks for your help!

[Betarulz!]

Hey bro,

Our chapter house house at Nebraska is substance free and you've seen it. I think it makes a difference but it has a lot of positives, and only a couple of negatives.

The house does stay in much better condition. All the sorority girls tell us our house is the cleanest on campus.

I also think that the studying environment is better b/c if people want to drink, they have to go OUT to get drunk, and therefore you don't have to worry about people getting drunk while your trying to study. That impacts the sleeping, eating...b/c for the most part it becomes a hassle to have to go out and throw down a bunch of cash at the bars on a tuesday, or if underage to find someone to buy and then find a place to go.

Now on a personal level, I think that as far as girls go we are hurt by the fact that we don't drink in our house. I don't think it's that big of deal, but I know that several of my pledge brothers are bothered by it. However if youre on a campus where the greek houses are small, the culture is probably different and girls dont necessarily shack that often at the chapter house.

If you have any more questions just PM me.

Yours in
_Kai_